Rs4bn deal signed for vocational training of 40,000 women

Posted by: admin in Gender IssuesJanuary 29, 2013Comments Off on Rs4bn deal signed for vocational training of 40,000 women327 Views

By: Imtiaz Ali

Karachi: The Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Youth Development Programme (BBSYDP) and the National Commission for Human Development (NCHD) on Monday signed a MoU for the vocational training of 40,000 women at a cost of Rs4 billion in the next three years under the ‘Women Economic Empowerment Project.’

The signing ceremony was held at the Chief Minister’s House in Karachi.Under the project, women of Sindh would be provided skills and training in stiching, tailoring, embroidery, technical and vocational fileds.

NCHD Chairperson MNA Nafisa Shah opined that expenditure on women empowerment was far more important than that on infrastructure development. Chief Minister Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah, addressing the ceremony, said that on assuming power they found a mere Rs2 billion allocated to education but, during their tenure, the PPP raised it up to Rs12 billion.

He said that before coming into power 7,000 schools were closed and their teachers were receiving salaries at home. The PPP made functional 4,000 schools and provided students and staff with proper classroom and bathroom facilities. He further said that the present government had raised the salaries of teachers.

The CM said that at the time of devolution, the federal government had decided to shut down the NCHD but Sindh resisted for the fear of unemployment of people. He said that recently a bill was moved in the Sindh Assembly for introducing compulsory education in the province. He appreciated the efforts of the NCHD and the BBSYDP for promoting education in the province, especially among the youth.

Shah said that the women empowerment project was showing a visible change, which was a great success for the NCHD and the BBSYDP.

MNA Dr Nafisa Shah said the youth received education, awareness and skills under the programme which allowed them to be self employed. She said that due to the comprehensiveness of the program women of rural and far flung areas were getting training at their doorsteps. She stressed that promotion of computer literacy was more important than the distribution of laptops. She said those raising the slogans of revolution must see how a real revolution was brought for the poor women by the current government.

Nafisa Shah opined that the womenfolk needed to work shoulder to shoulder with men in political, social and economic spheres to change the destiny of the country. BBSYDP Provincial Coordinator Karim Bakhsh Siddiqui highlighted the features of the training program.

Participants of the meeting, who were offered training in a previous NCHD and BBSYDP phase, shared their experiences and told how the programme had positively impacted their life.